Premier vows to better protect IPR
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2004-05-07 22:19

Visiting Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Friday pledged to crack down on trademark piracy and better protect intellectual property rights.

Addressing a seminar on promoting investment between China and Italy, held at the headquarters of the Italian National Industrialists Confederation (Confindustria), Wen said the Chinese government attaches great importance to intellectual property protection and has adopted a series of measures to crack down on piracy, including setting up a special commission led by Vice Premier Wu Yi to address this issue.

"Famous brands are intellectual properties representing competitive capacity and interests, thus should be protected," he told some 700 representatives from Italian and Chinese business circles.

He urged entrepreneurs from China and Italy to actively invest in each other's countries and contribute to pushing forward bilateral economic cooperation and trade.

The Chinese premier said Italy's investment in China to date totals 2.44 billion US dollars, accounting for only 4.6 percent of Italy's total investment volume overseas.

Among the reasons are Italian enterprises' lack of understanding of the Chinese market. Most Italian investment in China is centered in Shanghai and other big coastal cities, said Wen, who arrived here Thursday for a three-day visit as part of his five-nation European tour.

Italy is an industrialized nation possessing mature technology, famous brands, exquisite craftsmanship and a large number of small and medium-sized enterprises in particular, he noted.

"If Italian entrepreneurs widen their breadth of view, they can find their ideal cooperation partners not only in China's east coastal area, but also in the central, western and northwest regions," he told the seminar which opened on Thursday.

The premier also urged the Chinese entrepreneurs to learn more of Italian conditions, abide by Italian laws and regulations and seek out complementary cooperation areas and projects.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi highly praised China's enormous economic achievements over the past years.

"The current world, facing challenges of terrorism, needs China, " Berlusconi said. "Strengthening relations with China will contribute to world stability."

He also urged Italian businessmen to go to China and find commercial opportunities in the world's largest market. He called on Chinese businessmen to invest in Italy, saying the Italian market needs Chinese commodities with its own characteristics.

The two-day seminar was co-sponsored by the Italian Ministry of Production Activities and China's Ministry of Commerce. It is the first time for China to co-host an investment promotion seminar in a European Union (EU) country.

Some 700 delegates from both countries' business circles gathered in Rome to exchange views and seek opportunities of cooperation in areas of ready-to-wear clothes, food, environmental protection, automobiles, electrical appliances, energy and medicines.

Chinese Commerce Minister Bo Xilai and Italian Minister of Production Activities Antonio Marzano also attended the seminar.

Sino-Italian ties have developed smoothly in recent years, with bilateral trade volume totaling US$11.7 billion last year, a 28.3 percent increase over the previous year.

Italy is China's fifth trading partner in the EU with 2,136 investment projects in China by the end of 2003.

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